Three Links and a Sheikah
by Shadow Hylian
Summary: AU MM. All they'd wanted was a holiday, but with the Ocarina of Time stolen and the Hero cursed into a Deku Scrub, Link, Dark Link and Sheik find themselves thrown into a plot to stop the moon crashing in three days Continuation of TFHoT


Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda is the property of Nintendo. I do not own anything.

Summary: (AU MM) All they'd wanted was a break from adventuring. But with the Ocarina of Time stolen and the Hero cursed into a Deku Scrub, Link, Dark Link and Sheik find themselves embroiled in a plot to stop the moon crashing in three days.

Shadow Hylian: This fic continues where The Forgotten Hero of Time left off. Although this chapter will seem like a straight parody of MM, I am planning this fic to differ from the game.

In terms of timelines, this fic takes place seven years later than it should. It's too confusing to explain, so just think of it that way.

Anyway, here's the first chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Three Links and a Sheikah

Chapter 1: Of Thieves and Curses

In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a Hero. A Hero who, after battling evil and saving Hyrule, had the knowledge of his deeds erased and was forgotten by the land that made him a legend...

Done with the battles he once waged across time and with his memory restored, he and the companions that had aided him in his quest embarked on a journey. A secret and personal journey. A journey in search of adventure. An adventure in which he could escape Hyrule after he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took his place among legends...

------

A slow, steady sound of hooves were heard as the Hero and his companions rode through the deep forest, fog lying low to the ground and the sun piercing through the treetops as dawn approached as the travellers took the wooded path that led out of Hyrule.

"How much farther until we reach Termina?" the Shadow of the Hero asked impatiently from his atop his black steed, his eyes narrowing showing his frustration at having to travel for long periods of time.

"You'd do well not to complain, Dark." Sheik spoke from behind Link, who he was riding with, his one visible red eye narrowing in annoyance. Ideally, they would have taken three horses to travel with, but it was not practical for long distances. So they settled on taking two horses with two riders on one of them. Dark Link had demanded his own horse, saying that it would be an insult to his masculinity to be a passenger, so Sheik was riding with Link on Epona and they had borrowed one of Lon Lon Ranch's horses for Dark Link to ride.

"Look, could we save the bickering for later?" Link interrupted, his tone sharp, "I can't be bothered listening to you two argue." Link spoke. Dark Link merely huffed in response.

As they continued to travel through the woods, Link felt that there was something odd about this forest. It seemed to be devoid of life, as though no living thing had stepped foot here. However, the Hero and his companions did not realise that they were being watched by two fairies. Link halted Epona and listened for a moment.

"Something's wrong." he spoke, looking around in search of what was amiss. At that moment, there was a magical ringing noise and the two glowing orbs, one yellow and one purple, flew out from behind the trees towards the horses. Both horses reared up as the fairies startled them and their riders were thrown from the steeds and collided painfully with the hard ground, knocking all three travellers unconscious and the black horse galloped away, leaving only Epona in the clearing tossing her head in distress.

As the fairies hovered above the travellers, a mask-wearing forest imp materialised in the clearing and the fairies flew to its side. The imp lifted up the red and purple horned mask to get a better look at the unconscious travellers.

"Hee hee, you two fairies did great!" the Skull Kid spoke, "I wonder if these guys have anything good on them. Huh this guy...Well, that shouldn't be a problem..." he mused to himself, covered his face with his mask and approached the knocked out hero with a shuffling gait with the fairies following him.

He stepped in front of the Hero, who was lying face-down on the ground and nudged his side with his foot, as if checking he was still unconscious before he kicked Link over onto his back. The Skull Kid rifled through the Hero's pockets before pulling out the Ocarina of Time and holding it up to the light to get a better look at it.

The Skull Kid tilted his head to the side in wonder at the object and the purple fairy spoke up.

"Ohh, what a pretty ocarina. Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it! I wanna see!" the purple orb said excitedly as the imp played a few notes on the object and laughed at the sound repeatedly.

"You can't, Tael! What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!" the bossy yellow fairy said strictly.

"...Aww, but sis. W-why... can't I try it out?" the purple fairy whined just as Link, Dark Link and Sheik came around and the Hero sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Link got to his feet, heard the imp giggling and turned to see the Skull Kid and the two fairies with their back to him playing with the Ocarina of Time.

"Hey, how did you get that?!" Link asked angrily stepping forward and the imp turned around.

"Wah!" he spoke, startled by the Link's sudden awakening and he tried to hide the ocarina behind his back.

"Give that back!" Link shouted and lunged at the Skull Kid, but the imp dived out of the way and jumped onto Epona, who panicked and bolted into the forest with the imp on her back.

"Come back here!" Link roared and dived at the horse, managing to grab onto the side of the saddle and the Hero was dragged along the ground as he tried to stop the imp.

"Link, wait up!" Sheik and Dark Link called and they ran after their companion as he continued to hang on to the galloping horse as she charged through the woods. The Hero clung onto the mare as she ran through the trees, his body being scrapped along the ground and he winced as he was ploughed into rocks and uneven ground.

"Link, watch out!" Dark shouted angrily as he chased after his counterpart, who noticed that the Epona was charging into a tree stump and he let go before he was driven into it, landing with a loud thump on the ground and the Skull Kid and the two fairies charged away with Epona.

"Are you alright?" Sheik asked as the Hero got unsteadily to his feet, but the Hero only glared at the tunnel in which the Skull Kid had disappeared through and ran after him with Dark Link and Sheik following him.

The Hero ran through another clearing that was much more dense than the last one and little light flowed into it from the canopy. Link sprinted across the clearing stepping on tree stumps and jumping across to the other side of the open space and into another tunnel.

As Link ran almost blindly through the pitch black tunnel, he saw that it came to a sharp end and stopped before he came to the end of the pathway. As he looked downwards, he saw that there was a deep drop, but before he could move away from the edge, Dark Link and Sheik ran into him and they fell off the edge and into the darkness.

------

As the fell through nothingness, the Hero and his companions could see strange runes rotate and spin around them and they became disorientated by the symbols that danced in front of their eyes.

The Hero and his companions fell to the ground with a loud thump and landed on what looked like a Deku plant of some kind. Link, Dark Link and Sheik got to their feet and dusted off their clothes, before a bright light flashed at them and the travellers shielded their eyes.

As the light died down, they saw the Skull Kid floating cross-legged in mid air with the two fairies on either side of him.

"What's with that stupid horse of yours?" the imp taunted, "It doesn't listen to a word that it said to it...There's no point of riding a thing like that, so I did you a favour and got rid of it...hee, hee." the Skull Kid cackled.

"What have you done with her?" Link asked sharply, worrying about his mare's safety.

"Aww, boo-hoo" he simpered, feigning sadness, "What's with the sad face? I just thought I'd have a little fun with you..."

"Do you know who we are!?" Dark Link challenged the imp.

"Oh, come now...Do you really think you can beat me as I am now? Fool!" the imp spoke and Dark Link growled angrily. Then the Skull Kid shook his head from side to side and a blue aura materialised from the mask the imp was wearing.

"Ugh." the Hero groaned, clutching his head in agony as the spell took effect.

"Link, what's wrong?" Sheik asked immediately, going to the Hero's side as Link collapsed to his knees. It felt as though his skull was being compressed and the Hero grimaced in pain.

-----

The Hero was standing in a black space that was empty except for himself. A rustling noise, like the sound of leaves. The Hero turned to see Deku Scrubs, shuffling towards him, their amber eyes glowing eerily as they advancing upon him. He backed away, but the creatures still encircled him. The Hero ran away, but a Deku Scrub many times larger than the others chased him down and his vision faded to blackness.

------

Something was wrong, the Hero thought as he opened his eyes. He heard both Dark Link and Sheik exclaim something, but didn't catch what they were saying and as he turned towards them, he noticed that they were somehow larger as if they had grown or...

The Hero lowered himself over the edge of the platform he was on and stared into the pool of water at his reflection. It couldn't be...

As he looked into his reflection, he saw that he had been cursed into the form of a Deku Scrub. He clutched at his wooden face, shaking his head in denial as he panicked.

No, it couldn't be...

The Hero only barely managed to stop himself from screaming and the Skull Kid laughed at his obvious anguish.

"Hee, hee! Now that's a good look for you!" he laughed. "You'll stay looking that way forever!" he cackled madly and floated backwards towards a open door way with the fairies following him. Without thinking, Deku Link sprinted after them, but the yellow fairy stopped him by bouncing off of his head to enrage him further.

"S-s...Sis!" the purple fairy, Tael, called out from the doorway.

"Whoa! Skull Kid, wait for me! I'm still here! Tael, you can't leave without me!" the yellow fairy called out just as the door way was closed, trapping her behind with Link, Dark Link and Sheik and the orb bounded off of the doorway in a futile attempt to open it before her wings drooped sadly, realising that she was trapped behind.

"You!" She shouted angrily at Deku Link, "If I wasn't dealing with you I wouldn't have gotten separated from my brother!" she fumed. "Well don't just sit there, Deku Boy, do something!" she yelled and the Hero just glowered at her. "Why are you looking at me like that? What is there something stuck on my face? Will you stop staring at me and open that door for me? Please! A helpless little girl is asking you, so hurry up!" she shouted, before floating away. "Oh, Tael...I wonder if that child will be all right on his own..." she mused to herself.

With no other way to go, Deku Link, Dark Link and Sheik moved forwards and opened the door and hurried down the dark tunnel.

"Hey, wait for me! Don't leave me behind!" the fairy whined, and Dark Link clenched his jaw in irritation. Obviously the fairy did not realise that she was dicing with death by angering the Shadow of the Hero. "So, um...That stuff back there...I...um...apologise, so. So take me with you." she spoke lamely.

"No way! Do you think I'd let you anywhere near me after what you did?" Link raged in a squeaky voice of a Deku Scrub.

"You wanna know about that Skull Kid who just ran off, right?" the fairy asked, "Well...I just so happen to have an idea of where he might be going. Take me with you and I'll help you out, deal? Please?" she asked.

"Okay, fine." Link spoke, "But don't think I've forgotten about this!" he warned.

"Good! So that it settled!" she proclaimed. "Now then, I'll be your partner or at least until we catch that Skull Kid. My name is Tatl. So, uh, it's nice to meet you or whatever." she spoke probably realising that this alliance would not be friendly. "Now that we've got all that straightened out, can we stop messing around and get moving?" she asked impatiently." If I figure something out, I'll let you know." she said before taking off and Deku Link, Dark Link and Sheik followed Tatl towards a doorway hidden in the carved alcove of a large tree trunk.

As they stepped through the doorway, they saw that there was a large abyss below them, but they managed to cross the gap by using the Deku Nuts that Sheik carried to teleport across the void to each tree stump and to the other side. There was a ringing noise and Tatl fluttered around Deku Link's head to get his attention, having spotted something.

"Hey! Look at that." she spoke and flew over to an oddly shaped tree stump next to the tunnel that they were about to walk through. "It's strange, but the way you look right now sort of looks like this tree...It looks all dark and gloomy... almost like it could start crying any second now... How sad..." she said with a low voice. "C'mon, let's go." she said and flew into a strange twisting tunnel that made the adventurer's feel dizzy as it felt as though they were walking on the ceiling. As they stepped out of a corridor, they found them selves in a large building and the door closed behind them. The companions walked forward and saw a huge mechanical device with cogs turning and they climbed up the stairs to the top of the tower towards the exit.

However, when they reached the door, a man spoke from the shadows.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" he simpered with a creepy laugh and the companions turned to see the Happy Mask Shop man from Hyrule Castle Town carrying a heavy bag on his back standing a few feet away. The man wore a sly and untrustworthy expression on his face and a shiver seemed to pass through the group. Tatl even hid behind Dark Link's head.

"I run the Happy Mask Shop. I travel far and wide in search of masks..." he smiled creepily. "During my travels, a very important mask was stolen from my by an imp in the woods. So here I am at a loss...And now I've found you..." he spoke ,"Now don't think me rude, but I have been following you." he said and Link and his companions backed away a bit, disturbed by the news that they had a creepy stalker. "...For I know of a way to return you to your former self." he spoke. "If you can get back to precious item that was stolen from you. I will return you to normal." he said, then his expression snapped into a new one. "In exchange..." he said, "All I ask is that you also get back my precious mask that the imp stole from me."

"How am I supposed to get it back like this?!" Link asked angrily.

"What?" the Happy Mask Shop man asked and his expression again snapped into a thoughtful one. "Is it not a simple task?" he asked. "Why, to someone like you, it should by no means be a difficult task." he spoke. "Except" and his expression snapped into a different one again. "The one thing is...I'm a very busy fellow...And I must leave this place in three days. How grateful I would be if you could bring it back to me before my time here is up..."

"Three days?" the adventurers asked incredulously and the Happy Mask Shop man's expression changed again.

"But, yes...You'll be fine. I see you are young and have tremendous courage. I'm sure you'll find it right away." he mused, "Well then, I am counting on you." he spoke, and the adventurers hastily walked away from him and opened the door.

They adventurers stepped out from the Clock Tower and into a bustling town which was filled by people going about their daily business.

"He gives me the creeps! That mask salesman was the...Sorry...just thinking aloud." Tatl spoke, "But three days? Even if we never sleep, that only leaves us with a measly 72 hours! Talk about demanding!" she said.

"Hey, is the moon supposed to be like that?" Dark Link asked, pointing to the sky, where the moon was looming menacingly over the town with evil-looking eyes and an obscene grin leering down on the land.

* * *

Shadow Hylian: So, that's the first chapter done. Okay, now I have a question for you to decide: should there be a pairing in this fic? and if so, which pairing would you like to see? 

I really appreciate feedback, so review please.


End file.
